To Exile A Spy
by Kitty Proud
Summary: Telling of how the Cardassian spy known as Elim Garak was exiled from his homeworld Cardassia Prime and forced to live on Deep Space Nine.
1. Chapter 1

Garak looked at the council in front of him. They were all sitting elevated above the Cardassian. He couldn't make their faces out with the shadows folding around them.

That's how it always was. Secrecy was the language of the Obsidian Order.

Garak didn't mind that. He loved secrets. He had been taught to love them since he was a child. They kept him safe.

But there was one face that wasn't shrouded in darkness. The middle chair seemed to be lit with its own light, revealing the face and head of the Obsidian Order: Enabran Tain.

The man was growing old and would soon need a successor. Garak once believed that that successor would be him. Now those prospects seemed less attainable.

"Look, why am I even here?" he asked, attempting to start smoothing things over.

"You have committed crimes against the Obsidian Order and Cardassia Prime," one of the chairs spoke out. "That cannot be excused."

"It was merely a misunderstanding between-"

"You have been found guilty of those crimes, have you not?" another chair asked.

"Yes, but I'm sure we can work something out," Garak protested. "I am one of the order's best spies. It would be a loss to just execute me on the spot."

A laugh suddenly filled the room. A cruel and hollow laugh that had no compassion. Garak could see that it was coming from Tain.

"Execute you, you say?" Tain leaned forward to look down at Garak with an amused smile. "You must be mistaking us for the Cardassian government. Who do you think you're dealing with, boy? At this point execution is too good for you."

A hint of fear flashed across Garak's eyes before he could cover it again. He had to remember to keep his composure.

"Then what do you plan to do with me?" he asked. "If I am nothing but a liability to you."

"Well Garak, exile seems to be appropriate here," Tain said calmly.

"Exile?" Garak stuttered. "What- what do you mean?"

"I mean that you will be exiled from Cardassia - never to return."

Garak could not speak. His hands gripped to steady himself on the object closest to him.

Exile from Cardassia... It was his home. It was the home that he had worked so hard for. Done everything for. He couldn't leave. He just couldn't.

"Could we not circle back to the whole execution thing?" he said desperately. "I love Cardassia-"

"And that is precisely why you should leave it." Tain leaned back in his seat again.

A door to the left suddenly opened and two guards walked in. Each of them grabbed the shocked Garak by an arm. Unable to hide it anymore, fear filled his eyes.

"Wait!" he shouted. "Please Father. Please!"

"He is clearly delusional. Exiling him is the best decision we could have made."

"No!"

Garak wrestled one arm free and used it to push the other guard off of himself. As the first one tried to hit him, the Cardassian spy expertly dodged the blow and went behind him. His arms came around the guard's neck and with one swift movement the vertebrae was snapped and the guard fell lifeless to the ground. Garak turned on the other guard, but found his efforts in vain when five more guards stormed in, all taking hold of him until Garak could not move. He was slowly dragged out of the room.

"No!" he screamed, kicking and trying to break free. "No! Wait!"


	2. Chapter 2

Garak fidgeted with his handcuffs out of habit. He had broken out of many before, but knew that trying with Cardassian handcuffs would be a hopeless affair.

Cardassians could always design the best, he thought with a swell of pride that quickly faded.

He was still about to be sent into exile. He had been loaded onto a cargo ship to be taken away from Cardassia Prime forever with the assurance that if he were to ever come back, it would not end very well for him and the people he loved. This had sent a shiver down his spine.

Garak looked up as a Cardassian stood in front of him. A normal military officer. The man probably had no idea who he was and what he was capable of.

"And where will you be going?" the man asked. "I have orders to take you to any destination away from Cardassia to begin your exile."

The officer was smirking at Garak's misfortune. Garak wasn't even in the mood to give his signature smile back. He was just glaring at the officer.

"Terok Nor," he said simply.

The officer was slightly taken aback but nodded and walked away.

Garak had devised a way for him to stay with Cardassians even if it couldn't be on his home planet. He of course knew of the Bajoran occupation. He also knew of the station orbiting around the planet: Terok Nor. A place unfortunately filled with other species but still absolutely crawling with Cardassians. He wouldn't even stick out among them. It was the perfect kind of home away from home.

The viewscreen showed the cargo ship leave orbit of Cardassia. As the glorious planet shrunk to nothing but a dot, Garak couldn't help but let a tear slip out and fall to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

The needle thread slowly and neatly through the fabric as Garak stitched on the last patch. A Ferengi had asked for a new suit, but when the fitting day came it was much too tight around the middle. Garak was given three days to correct this as the Ferengi set off in a huff. He must have known that he gained some weight that changed his measurements. If the fault was Garak's, the Ferengi would not have given him a second chance.

Garak thought back to when he arrived at the station with nothing but a bit of latinum and a suitcase of clothes. He could book a place to stay, but knew that this would not last long. His money would soon run out and then what?

Garak had decided to scout out the local businesses of Terok Nor. There were many bars and restaurants, but one thing that seemed lacking to the Cardassian was tailoring shops. Where must the residents go if they needed a new suit or dress?

The lack of tailoring - and general fashion - became especially noticeable to Garak. With the last of his latinum he bought a small shop and the materials to start making clothing. He of course had no experience at tailoring, but after some practice and a few tips from persuaded visitors to the station, he became quite decent at it. Maybe even good.

Business didn't boom, but the tailor was able to keep a steady income. All kinds of aliens cane to him for requests - even Cardassians on occasion. Most of them were not aware of his exile, so he was treated as a citizen.

He felt proud of himself. He had beaten his exile. Sure it wasn't home, but it was as close to it as he would get.

But one day the unimaginable happened. While he was working, Garak felt slight tremors move through the station. This was nothing unusual since the station was attacked every few days, but this time the tremors didn't stop. They grew stronger and more frequent. Shouting started filling the hallways. It sounded like... Bajorans? They must have been staging a mutiny again.

Garak walked to the doorway of his tailoring shop and looked outside. Cardassian soldiers started rushing past, grabbing and destroying things as they went. It wasn't a mutiny. The firing had stopped and the Cardassians were throwing a party. They drank as much as they could and wrecked everything in their path. But they were also clearly heading for the ships.

In a spike of adrenaline, Garak grabbed one of them and pulled him into his shop. The soldier was much taller than the tailor. He looked irritated at his diviation.

"What do you want?" he asked impatiently.

"Where is everyone going?" Garak said. "Is Terok Nor under attack?"

"No. We're leaving. It's over."

"Wait, what's over?"

"The Bajoran occupation. The Bajorans are getting their station back and we're returning to Cardassia. I suggest you do the same."

The soldier hurried off. Garak stood in shocked silence for a while before retreating back into his shop and leaning against the wall.

The Cardassians were leaving. He couldn't go with them of course. He was still in exile. He couldn't imagine what the Obsidian Order would do to him and-

Garak shook those thoughts off. He quickly closed his shop and waited. The ruckus would soon end and then he would see what he could do. All the Cardassians couldn't leave, right? There would be some left...


	4. Chapter 4

Garak was alone. He was the last Cardassian on the station. Or what was left of it anyway. The place was almost completely destroyed.

Luckily his shop was mostly in tact. He had lost a lot, but the Cardassians mostly left him alone due to him being one of them.

Well, luckily wouldn't really be the word for it. He was stuck alone on a station far away from his home world and people because they couldn't just think to stay a few years longer?

In a sudden fit of rage, Garak flung his box of sewing supplies across the shop. It exploded and bit of thread and needles fell to the ground.

He breathed out heavily and started to pick everything up, but a sudden shiver ran down his spine. It was so... cold. The entire ship had a huge temperature shift.

Garak knew it was because of those damn humans. The Federation had decided to take over the station. They named it "Deep Space Nine" of all things. Garak felt a vile taste in his mouth. He had had limited contact with humans in his former line of work, but what he knew of them was enough.

They were all sentiment and softness. They probably took over the station just so they could get Bajor to join their stupid Federation. Always just the sappy motives.

The lights were too bright as well. Garak had to squint most of the time so that he didn't get a headache.

He wanted to leave so badly. But where could he go? There was nothing out there for him. He looked out of his doorway as Starfleet officers walked past his shop. Most of them looked at him with puzzlement and disgust when they saw him and quickly left. So that is what he was going to have to deal with from now on.

Humans who wouldn't come close to him while they were the ones dressed in those ugly pajamas.

Garak scolded himself mentally for starting to think like a tailor. The place must have started getting to him. He sneered at the bright lights once again and continued salvaging what was left of his tailoring business.

He stepped outside to dump a bunch of destroyed materials somewhere, when he suddenly saw two people walking past all the shops across the promenade from the cardassian.

There was a Bajoran woman and a human. The human Starfleet officer was looking around at everything with eagerness and wonder. His excitement at the wreckage around him made Garak not help but smile. He looked so young and ready to take on the world. Even from far away Garak could see the glint in his eyes. The tailor had to admit that the blue uniform complimented his chocolate skin maybe a bit... better than the other officers.

The human headed into the infirmary. Ah, so he was a doctor.

Garak was still smiling as he walked back into his shop.

Maybe this thing wasn't going too terrible.


End file.
